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Broncos owner Pat Bowlen will be "ticked off for a month" after loss

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is happy to defer to the man he hired to run the team's show, John Elway. (John Leyba, Denver Post file)

Pat Bowlen was sharp and quick with his answers. He seemed comfortable in the chair behind the large desk in his vast office at Broncos headquarters, dressed casually in black slacks and a black dress shirt.

The Broncos' owner for nearly 29 years, Bowlen looked good. He sounded good. Does he feel good?

"Not after (Saturday)," Bowlen said, laughing outwardly while expressing his inner sentiments. "I'm still ticked off. I'll be ticked off for a month. They're tough to get over. Especially when you're in that position and you have that opportunity."

Bowlen's Broncos finished the regular season with an 11-game winning streak that earned them home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. There will be no AFC title game at home, however, after the 38-35, double-overtime loss to Baltimore on Saturday in the divisional round. A chance to play a second playoff game at home against New England and his friendly rival, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, never materialized.

There were 76,732 fans who attended that playoff game Saturday despite temperatures of 13 degrees at kickoff and 9 degrees with a -4 windchill by halftime. Almost all the fans stayed through the four-hour, 11-minute game. Frozen on the outside, Bronco fans were angry, depressed and frustrated on the inside as they filed out of Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

"All of the above, right here," Bowlen said as he pointed to his chest. "I understand that. I can understand why the fans feel that way, because I feel that way. We had a very good football team. The disappointing thing is we didn't get to the final game."

With the season behind him, Bowlen made his first public comments since he signed a free-agent quarterback named Peyton Manning on March 20.

Bowlen remains an active owner if not one who has ever been intrusive in his team's player-personnel decisions. He is at the office every work day. He meets regularly with John Elway, his favorite all-time player, whom he hired two years ago to run the Broncos' football operations.

Asked if he remains steadfast in owning the Broncos the rest of his life, Bowlen pointed his index finger at his inquisitor and said, "I love my job."

It's just that four years ago, after marking his 25th anniversary as Broncos owner, Bowlen decided to remove himself from the speaking pulpits.

"But I never wanted to do that," Bowlen said. "I've got a guy down the hall who knows a hell of a lot more about football than I do. So I rely on him. He and I have conversations. He educates me in some ways, and I educate him in some ways."

John Elway faced the media — and the music — Monday at Dove Valley. His boss, Pat Bowlen, is keeping the faith. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Despite the disappointing end to a promising season, Bowlen is pleased with the direction of his team, especially considering where it was just two years ago. After the 2010 season, the Broncos were 4-12 and in disarray following the brief, but tumultuous leadership of Josh McDaniels.

Bowlen quickly corrected the McDaniels mistake by bringing in Elway, who then hired John Fox as head coach.

Together, Elway, Fox and Bowlen brought in Manning. It was Bowlen who assumed most of the risk as he guaranteed $18 million in salary this past season for a 36-year-old quarterback who had missed the previous season to recover from four neck surgeries.

The Broncos are now in position to pick up a two-year, $40 million "option" on Manning's contract, which is expected to be a mere formality.

So what now? Bowlen said he would go to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, where he has a home. He won't spend much time there as he will sit down with Elway to discuss how the team can best increase its chances of going farther in next season's playoffs.

"We had a very good football team," Bowlen said. "A lot of those guys are going to be back. Some of them won't be. Some will go to other teams or whatever, but I'm very comfortable that the nucleus of this football team will be back.

"I think we learned something. We learned a lesson. I think that lesson will help us. We've got to get better. Not in a lot of different areas. Keep the nucleus, but maybe tweak it here and there. But as for the future, that's up to John. He's going to tell me what we'll do. I would be very surprised if we don't agree."

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